July 11, 2013

Apple Seen as Real Threat in the In-Vehicle Infotainment Market

In June we posted a report titled "Apple Takes the Lead in the Next Battlefront: Advanced Eyes-Free Services for the Car." Apparently the news of Apple's big push into this new arena has woken up some industry analysts. Today, a new ABI Research report forecasts that the number of MirrorLink and GENIVI car connected automotive infotainment systems may increase from around 10,000 at the end of 2012 to 27.9 million in North America, Western Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region by the end of 2018. But there's one threat on the horizon for these standing leaders. In a word: Apple.

Consumers want to stay connected in their cars and OEMs increasingly see infotainment as a key differentiator for their vehicles. However, as OEMs strive to meet their customers' technological demands they must decide whether to deliver services through an embedded on-board system or via the driver's mobile phone.

ABI's Gareth Owen, principal analyst in this report stated that "GENIVI has strong support in the automotive industry but Apple's imminent entry into the car space is a real threat for MirrorLink unless it can gain traction quickly. MirrorLink really needs to launch its version 1.1 quickly and get as many handset vendors as possible to introduce MirrorLink v1.1 compatible devices."

Yes, Apple's "iOS for the Car" is going to be a threat and there are enough car companies behind this project to upset the entire established infotainment industry and turn it on its head.

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